


a new understanding

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Complicated Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 22:25:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14247027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Post 05.16. Daisy gets Coulson back as they figure out how to support each other in the aftermath of team betrayals.





	a new understanding

He watches Daisy walk into the almost empty room, her body language stiff and sobering.

Her face says something else, though. That she wants to talk.

More than what had been shared in the debrief, even when he'd taken her aside to talk some of the more pressing issues over.

"Phillip J. Coulson?" he asks, recalling how strange it seemed to hear him spoken of so formally by a child. Then he remembered that was how Robin had referred to him when they saw her in the future in old age, too.

Robin is who brought Daisy and her team to save him and Talbot from the cold.

"The legendary hero of Earth," she replies, stopping in front of him with a hint of a smile.

He gives up at that point, putting a hand on his hip and dropping his eyes to the floor. It's his own fault, though, for telling her how Hale had described him to the Kree Confederacy.

His eyes flicker back up to hers, and he's surprised, that her expression isn't so much teasing as something else. He had seen it before. When they had escaped from Ward.

"Now that you have me back, how can I be of use?" he says instead.

Her eyebrows raise for a moment, then her eyes drop to look at his mouth, and the smirk he's wearing, considering the offer. Then she recovers, all business, titling her head at him. "Are you serious? I'm giving you the team back."

"The team is in very capable hands," he says, watching her carefully, pressing into it, and putting his hands around the back of the chair nearest to him. "I wish you could say the same."

She sort of laughs at him, and turns to the side, thinking through her words before she faces him again. "We needed to get you back," she starts, then pauses. "I needed to get you back."

He swallows and tries to read her expression, that seems more distant than normal for her. Someone who has put up boundaries for survival. The last thing he wants right now is to add to that.

"What if I would rather follow your lead?" he suggests, toeing his boot against the bottom of the chair.

"As long as you don't ask me to forgive anyone that I shouldn't, and can follow orders, we should be fine," she nods at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What he did to you?" he starts, fingers digging into the chair then letting go as he takes a step towards her. "Has consequences that are unfinished."

"I know," she agrees with him, and he sees something in her eyes, opening up. He can see the sense of relief and he hopes that it's given her some sense of comfort.

It makes him think about how she asked him once if he ever felt like running. He feels like running right now. Of taking her far away from Hale's reach, and Fitz's betrayal and this Kree Confederacy.

That the idea occurs to him so strongly, and it's complicated, mixed with his own sense of time slipping away, and with the knowledge that she would never-

"Since we don't have a doctor at the moment, has anyone looked you over?" she asks, changing tactics, staring at his chest to make her point.

"I'm fine," he lies, and makes sure not to avoid her gaze, feeling her eyes lock onto his.

"I could make it an order," she tells him. And there is that look again. Something vulnerable, maybe even afraid, but firm, and not wanting to compromise.

He sighs, and then slips out of his field jacket, and starts to unbutton his shirt, while she looks away to give him privacy, or maybe it's second guessing what this is about, exactly.

It's starting to take shape, but he doesn't feel the same as when he's had examinations in the past.

"Is it getting worse?" she asks glancing at the blue veins spreading out from where his heart is, trying to hide her visceral reaction to it.

"Yes," he admits, considering the distance between them. That he know she won't close. She has been betrayed and cut into, but he wants her to feel safe with him. Her eyes meet his, and he sees the weight of it on her.

"Does it hurt?" she asks.

"It makes me feel weak," he confesses, reaching out his hand to hers, and raising it to place her fingers on his chest. She looks surprised by it. He is surprised by it himself. "It makes me feel weak. You don't."

"Did they hurt you?" she wants to know, the sharp tinge of anger is there in her voice, her fingers tenderly splaying out over his scar as she looks over his body.

She wants justice. Not just for him, but for herself. For them. He's sure of it.

"Not like they hurt you," he tells her, whispering it between them, as she lingers for a moment, eyes fixed on her fingers touching him, then refocuses to button his shirt back up.

"You're the only person I trust," she admits, like it's simply a fact. "I need you with me. To have my back."

"I'm yours."

Her eyes drop to his mouth again. He remembers to breathe again as her lips part.

A new understanding.


End file.
